Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

Bayverse and the RiD cartoon both turned him into the stereotypical Japanese Samurai, which he is not.   He does share much in common with them: his zenlike quality which makes him dangerous in battle, arguably martial arts-y moves, the swords.   But... he also acted as a foil to Ultra Magnus' law-keeper, so much so that Rodimus likened the three to Rossum's Trinity, the theory that a Transformer had three essential parts as explained here.

Although, as Rodimus put it - as I recall - Magnus would tell him no, Drift would tell him yes and he got to do what he wanted in the first place in the end.    The point is: Drift wasn't just a Samurai.   He had a painful past - as a Decepticon - and he was willing to take the blame for Overlord to protect Rodimus, knowing the crew needed him.   He tried to live his life as he believed was right, but he wasn't a caricature of a Samurai.   He did wrong.   He clearly couldn't stop Rodimus from doing horrific things. 

He simply found peace, and wanted to protect that peace for himself, for everyone else.   Also, the whole religious aspect.   Yes, Drift practices Spectralism - and is actively trying to convert Rodimus.  

I'm okay with liking Thunderclash because Rodimus hates him and I, as you all probably know, hate Rodimus - and Thunderclash totally respects Spectralism!   This is, by the way, one of the things I know about the religion - so I'm totally guessing a lot based on Drift.   Basically, I kinda wanna be Drift.   Or Windblade.   Or a mix of both.

IDW.   Only.  

The point is: he clearly has beliefs that are deeper than Japanese stereotype in IDW.   They aren't just based on that.   He's a little too hippie to be a straight Japanese samurai stereotype.   He's amazing. IDW and Roberts do this; everyone else just does what is easiest, turning him into someone who harps on honor all the time, giving him Japanese accented English and just being offensive on a couple levels.  There's the obvious one, the cultural one, but then there's the other one.   Which I'm ashamed to admit I take more offense at, to be quite frank.   They took one of my favorite characters, as well rounded as any in Roberts' series - all of them are just amazingly rich characters - and they made him boring.   

Still, I'm semi-amused by this series, and deprived of Transformers prose.   So, yes, I on occasion indulge in these books.   It was fun for what it was but I knew it would, well, suck.    Unfortunately for RiD Drift, I got overloaded on comics after Drama - after Lost Light because nothing can compare to that high -  and needed a prose break.   RiD loses even more of its charm after reading something so superior. 

It's especially sad that they ripped off so much of Drift's past - like the whole Dreadlock fiasco - which only makes me grit my teeth more.   They mined IDW, but once it became problematic to use that, they dumbed it down as much as possible.   They used everything obvious, and left all the complexities - all the things that made Drift interesting - behind.  

Seeing as Drift's past colliding with the present is so essential to this book, it meant that he was the focus.   Giving him a focus after making it clear that he won't be the Drift I love makes me even more annoyed with this book. 

Why not one half star?   It's true to the series, it's a quick, easy read, Grimlock is growing on me in this continuity - which is supposed to be Aligned but clearly isn't since it's so divergent so I consider it an AU of Aligned, and the cards in back are a nice addition.   (Two cards, and they go over the very basics of each character.  Like a sentence or two.  I could tear them out and use them as bookmarks - but I don't.   I keep them intact in the book.   It's the collector in me.)

Will I collect the book on Prime that I missed?  Unlikely.   Prime is not my favorite character, not by far.   Will I buy future books?   Yes?  No?   Maybe?   I hate them, but I do read them.   Maybe I'll try at the library?  I kinda like owning my TF prose, though...